Course Outline

The course is presented in 10 sessions referred to collectively as 'Philosophy and Wisdom'. The content of each session is a follows:-

Note: Depending on the term in which you start and the centre you attend you may receive alternative content - see further details below.

1. The Wisdom Within - Philosophy means the love of wisdom. Our course is intended to show how philosophy may help us enjoy richer, less stressful and more useful lives. This opening session considers these aims further, and introduces simple exercises in mindfulness and the application of wisdom which can be practised in daily life.

2. Know Thyself - Who am I, really? My body? My emotions? My strongly held beliefs? My soul? Possibly all of these? Possibly none? Such questions have preoccupied philosophers down the ages. We look at practical ways to explore who we really are and how to tap our true potential.

3. Being Awake - Often the most notable quality of wise people is their alertness to the subtleties of a situation. They are awake, perceptive and curious. We look at deeper levels of awareness, and consider how we may become more awake to ourselves, our surroundings, and the events we meet.

4. The Present Moment - We review our own experience of attention through a model featuring attention centred, captured, open and scattered, and how these each relate to the past, present and future. We examine the extraordinary brightness and freedom naturally available in the present moment. A straightforward practice is introduced to help us experience this more frequently.

5. Living Justly - According to Plato, justice and injustice do not start ‘out there’. They begin within ourselves. For justice to prevail, Plato suggests that we must learn to avoid being 'tyrannised' by our passions and fears to the extent they overrule our reason. We discuss the practicality of Plato's ideas on justice in our daily lives.

6. Understanding Energies And Using Them Wisely - Sometimes we seem not to have enough, or the wrong kind, of energy. A wise person can act consistently despite these varying conditions. We consider how to recognise differing energies, how to gain and conserve them and how to use them wisely.

7. The Light of Reason - We look at the philosopher Shankara's notion that reason is the ability to discern the transient from the eternal, the changing from the unchanging. This leads to the question what, in our experience, can actually be said to be unchanging? Suggestions are given to help further consideration of this question during the coming week.

8. The Power of Beauty - Beauty has the capacity to open the heart and bring delight. In this session we discuss our direct experience of beauty in its different form: of the sensory world, of thought, of feelings, of the inner nature, and of conduct. We consider Plato's idea of there being ultimately one beauty - beauty absolute - 'not knowing birth or death, growth or decay'.

9. Unity in Diversity - When we look around, we see enormous diversity in nature. The wise person looks for the unifying factor: that which allows all this apparent diversity to be seen as part of a single whole. Seen in this way, life then has the best chance of being led freshly and openly.

10. The Desire For Truth - Practical philosophy is about discovering the truth of things – not theoretically, but in our own experience. In this final session we look back and ask ourselves how our search for truth has fared as the term has progressed. We discuss what has been discovered and how, in our own way, we may continue to develop it in our daily lives.

Note: We also have other course content and depending on the term in which you start and the centre you attend you may receive one the following alternatives. These cover highly complementary aspects of what is on offer and should one of these alternatives be used we believe the experience of and benefit from the course will be similar.

Philosophy and LoveNature and source of love; its gain and lossSeeing beyond the apparent. Practice of stillnessExpression of pure love through creationPure love through wisdom; attachment and delusionDiscerning truth from the fruit of actions. Overcoming all limitsExpansion and strengthening of pure love. Things that cover pure loveNature of that which is loved. Transient and changeableAbsence of love and its effect. Nature and effect of gratitudeLove thy neighbour as thyself. Transformative effect of loveDecisions based on true principle. Open heartednessCauses of duality and hostilitySacrificial and sentimental love. Human and divine loveStillness and deeper levels within oneselfRelationship between law and loveLove and work. Constancy between words and actions